The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1887-09-13
Henry George and Land Values.

MI. Henry George, VINO is very eloquent
writer, Is pushing his land theory for all it is
worth. lie brings to its advocacy brilliant
style and a facility of expression that are
well calculated 70 deceive those who take
merely superficial view Of matters and
! things.
Mr.. Georges theory is that man can have
no property in land because man found it
here when he came just as he found the
air and the sunshine lie can neither add
to nor take from it, therefore he can have
no right to it aud no title in it. Property
in land being wrong, all our ideas Of polit-
Teal economy are wrong. This is Mr.
George theory, and he contends that to
abolish private ownership in land is to pro-
vide remedy for poverty and all the misery
that is the outgrowth OF poverty.
\ great many sensible people have been
misled by Mr.. Georges arguments, but if
his theory be correct, II is applicable to a
great many other things besides land.
Land, in and of itself, has no value 1t is
worthless until man by his labor has util-
lied it,. Land that is unoccupied may have a
market value, but the measure Of that value
is its possibilities Of production when utiliZ-
ed by the labor Of man.
Man found sheep (for nStancc) in wild
state. lie las utilized them, and he now
owns Them but he wool on the Sleeps
back would be worthless il it were not wove
into various fabrics Tor the benefit Of man.
The George theory is as applicable to own
! ership in sheep as to ownership in land.
| Here is what the great reiormer says in a
late number Of his organ, the Standard:
What the united labor party and the Anti-poyert
society, the one os political and the other ms
ethical and religious organization, seek TO bring
about, is simply the practical recognition Of the
great truth tbai God made this earth for the use Of
the men whom hc made 70 live in H. each genera
ton utilizing the ich inheritance in turn, 0nd eav-
ing it unimpaired to rs Successors This end they
propose to accomplish 10y the taxation ofland values;
system under which, 80 long as only one man
wants to use any natural opportunity he Shall he
free 10 do so without tribute paid TO any man. but
when by Of social growth the privilege Of a
natural opportunity is wan,ol By a number Of men,
the man who uses 1t shall pay to the community
such tax may fairly represent the advantage
which the enjoyment Of that opportunity gives him
over his fciowmen who consent 10 fOrego its use.
It needs but little thought to realize that under
such a system not only would that degrading desti-
! tuition in the midst plenty which we now know
n poverty be impossible but no man or woman OF
sound mind and body, and willing to work, need
want for my reasonable luxuries.
This is very Gne, but it is very vague. The
erich inheritance" is rich simply because it
has been made so by mans industry, and
the value of land is due solely to its utiliza-
ton and 60 the possibilities that it offers in
that direction. SO that after all, Mr.
Georges tax would fall not on land, which
has no value Of its own, but on mans in
! dustry, which has given the land value.
Mr.. Georges system of land taxation CON
templates the equalization of mans labor
and industry, which is only another form of
socialism. Il is not a vicious form, indeed,
for the simple reason that il is utterly inn
practicable. As long as the world stands,
some mems industry will count for more
than that OF others; as long as the Almighty
dlticreutiates individuality in the human
race some men will be crowned with great
success, where others fail. This, after all, is
the whole problem and Mr.. George will
find it just as difficult to level up individu-
ality and intelligence by means Of a system
of taxation as it would be to dry up Niagara
river by dipping water from the Gulf OF
MeNico.
We are told chat AIR. Georges prepostor-
Gus theory is very profitable to him. If he
has ever made dime out of 1t he has made
more than the human race eyerwill.